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Deals & M&ABy The PetRetailNews Desk3 min readSeptember 7, 2026
Petco's Reptile Sales Grew While Most Indies Walked Away. The Margin Math Says Why.
The category doing the work was one most specialty stores no longer stock, and the consumables followed the animal out.
Petco posted its second consecutive quarter of positive comp growth, and the category doing the work was one most specialty stores no longer carry: live reptiles and the consumables that follow them home.
The decision Petco made that specialty didn't
Petco reported $1.5 billion in net sales for Q2 fiscal 2026, up 0.05% year-over-year, with comparable sales up 0.6%. The company ended the quarter with 1,377 stores after closing one location. CEO Joel Anderson told investors that between April and June, the companion animals segment saw particular strength in live reptiles, which fueled gains in reptile food and supplies.
The consumables segment contributed 49% of total net sales. Companion animals, the bucket that includes live reptiles, accounted for 33%.
Anderson called companion animals "a highly differentiated category where our physical store provides a distinct competitive advantage that uniquely sets us apart from online-only and big-box peers while diversifying our animal exposure." He added that companion animals sit at the center of Petco's experiential merchandising strategy.
Petco kept the live reptile program running. The Q2 results show what that decision bought: a purchase that pulls consumables through for months.
The attach rate specialty can't match at scale
When a customer buys a live reptile, they walk out with substrate, heat lamps, enclosures, and ongoing food purchases. Petco's results suggest the company can support the category at scale. A store without live animals faces a different question: can you stock the consumables without the animal that drives the initial purchase?
Reptile food and supplies grew alongside live animal sales, according to the company. The consumables followed the animal.
For stores that no longer carry live reptiles, the Q2 report raises the question of whether the consumables customer shops where they bought the animal.
The company's gross profit grew 0.9% to $591.1 million in Q2, with a gross margin of 39.7%, up 37 basis points, supported by tariff refunds. Operating income increased 11.1% to $47.8 million. Net income surged 176% to $38.7 million. The results included a net benefit of $6.8 million related to tariff refunds.
Anderson also noted strong performance from new SKUs in cat treats, including the launch of Cat Candy Shop, Petco's private-label cat treat brand, and continued growth in the "gardening with your pets" category, driven by potted houseplants and pet-friendly garden seeds.
But the reptile callout stood out. Petco reaffirmed its full-year guidance, expecting net sales ranging from flat to 1.5% growth and adjusted EBITDA of $415 million to $430 million. For Q3, the company expects net sales growth between 0.4% and 1%, and plans to close 15 to 20 stores during the period.
Anderson described reptiles as providing "a distinct competitive advantage" through physical presence, the kind of differentiated play that matters when comp growth sits at 0.6%.
Where this leaves independents Monday morning
If you stock reptile consumables but don't carry live animals, the Q2 results raise a question worth asking: where is the reptile owner shopping for substrate, supplements, and feeders?
The play, if you're still in reptile consumables: product knowledge becomes your differentiator. If you can't compete on live animal selection, you compete on knowing more about supplementation schedules, UVB replacement intervals, and substrate mixes for specific species.
If you no longer stock reptile consumables, Petco's Q2 suggests the category is working for the retailer that kept it.
The thing we could be wrong about: if a wave of specialty reptile brands starts landing distribution in independents with education-heavy merchandising and higher-margin formulations, the consumables door reopens. But that requires the brand to do the work Petco's doing with live animals, creating the reason to walk in, and most brands aren't built to carry that load.
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